Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(22)
Author: Gena Showalter

Tobin was of the beefy variety. Plus, his eyes were cold, empty. My guess, he wasn’t some innocent victim of experimentation. Like Memory Man, he was probably a scrim Pretty Boy and then Desert Gall had hoped to recruit and use against us.

"What’s his power?" Tanner asked. "Do we know if he even has one?"

"Sadly, no," I muttered.

Edward handed me the folder. "Actually, we do. I’ve been testing McAldrin for the last two days. The guy has inhuman strength, and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Not all of it is his own, though.

Someone surrounded his bones with metal Wolverine-style, which caused his strength to increase exponentially."

As he spoke, I flipped through the pages. There were X-rays, graphs I couldn’t decipher and anatomy charts covered with arrows.

"Why’s he still here, then?" Tanner asked. "I mean, if I had that kind of strength I’d have busted my way free, like, yesterday."

I closed the folder with a snap and handed it back to Edward. "Maybe a few of Desert Gal’s victims aren’t really victims at all, but plants. Plants someone plans to use to take us down." Of course, Desert Gall would have had to know – or at least hope – PSI would break into her warehouse. For that to happen, she would have had to leak the information herself. That would explain why she’d moved all Pretty Boy’s "innocent victims" to a new location and why Rome’s contact was only then able to obtain the info.

"I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough," I said, my gaze landing on Rome and giving me a jolt.

He shifted ever so slightly in his chair, angling his face toward the two-way mirror, suddenly staring straight at me. He couldn’t see me, I knew that, but God, those electric blues singed me all the way to the soul.

Tanner must have pressed the speaker, because suddenly I could hear Lexis coaxing Tobin.

" – here to help you. That’s why we freed you. Cooperate, and we’ll let you go as soon as this investigation closes."

I hoped she realized that was a lie; I hoped he didn’t.

"Now, I’ll ask again. How long did Vincent have you locked up?" Vincent Jones. Street name Pretty Boy.

"I told you," came the cranky, raspy reply. "I don’t know. Wasn’t like I was given a calendar. Now, are we done here?" He made to stand, his massive body looming like a storm cloud over the petite Lexis.

"Sit down," Rome barked.

Barked. I rolled my eyes at the irony. Rome, a jaguar shape-shifter, and dogs did not get along, a lesson I’d learned just a few weeks ago when I dog-sat our neighbor’s golden retriever. The gentle giant had foamed at the mouth for a piece of Rome, and had nearly chewed through my man’s thigh. Needless to say, there had gone any chance I’d had of ever getting a dog of my own.

Tobin sat.

"God, I wish I was like that," Edward said. Then he shook his head, cheeks reddening as he realized he’d spoken aloud. I had forgotten he was beside me. Poor, unassuming man. He was probably forgotten a lot. Then again, I could relate. "Well, uh, I’d better get back to work." He rushed off without another word.

"Bye," I called.

No reply.

Through the rest of the interview, Rome kept his gaze glued to me. Or rather, the window. I gulped.

Could he see me?

"When did Desert Gall take over your care?" Lexis asked.

"About a month or so ago," Tobin mumbled.

So he wasn’t so bad with time, after all.

"Did she use any name besides Desert Gal?"

"Nope."

We’d check that with the others, see if he –

"Truth," Tanner said before the thought could fully form in my head.

So we still didn’t know her real name. Crap.

"Describe her to me," Lexis said.

For the first time, Tobin grinned. "I can’t. She never came to see us herself. She sent someone else to take care of us."

"Who?"

"Don’t know her name, only that she’s young, hot and has red hair. Girl had a mouth on her, though.

Damn did she have a mouth."

Red hair narrowed things down a little. It would make her easier to spot, if nothing else. Well, if the red hair was real. It could have been a wig, or temporarily dyed.

Lexis leaned back in her seat, the very picture of resolute agent. "Did she ask you to do anything for her or Desert Gal?"

"Nope." He wasn’t a bad-looking guy, with brown hair and big brown eyes. No tattoos, was even clean-cut. Those steroid muscles, though…someone should have told him there was such a thing as too much. "Not a thing."

"Lie," Tanner said.

The guy had delivered his lies with a straight face and no telltale signs. Without Tanner, I would have believed him. "We’ll have to keep him incarcerated, then, because we can’t risk letting him wander around, trying to hurt us. Or maybe not," I added after a moment’s reflection. "Like you said, he’s probably strong enough to bust out of here. But he hasn’t. Which means, as I suspected, Desert Gall and her cohort might have asked him to stay and spy on us. If we let him go, we can follow him. Maybe he’ll lead us to them."

Tanner slapped me on the back. "Damn, Viper. Now you’re thinking like an agent. I like it. Come on.

We’ve got our own people to interview."

I nodded reluctantly and turned, keeping my attention on Rome as long as possible. Because of that, I saw that he’d pushed to his feet, his chair skidding behind him.

I stopped. Both Lexis and Tobin glanced over at him questioningly.

He didn’t say anything, just headed straight for the door. My eyes widened and my heart thumped in my chest. Was he coming for…me?

Chapter Seven

The interrogation room doorswung open, the hinges squeaking, and Rome stepped into the hall. He didn’t glance around. No, he instantly pinned me with a hard stare, as if he’d known exactly where I was standing all along.

I gulped. Had he?

Beside me, Tanner muttered, "Shit. Cat Man’s pi – issed."

That he was. His eyes were narrowed, his pupils a thin, feral line. I licked my lips, a nervous gesture I couldn’t have stopped had my life depended on it. Here he was, my most primal fantasy in the flesh.

Dark, dangerous and untamable.

Rather than smile and tug me into his arms for a kiss, he snarled, "Can you two keep it down? You’re distracting us."

Us? When neither Lexis nor Tobin had even glanced at the window since Tanner and I had stepped up to it? "Uh, I could scream the national anthem and no one inside that room would be able to hear me." His lips pursed, and he remained silent. Stubborn man.

"Just…go back in there and finish the interview." I gestured to the window. Lexis, too, had gone silent the moment Rome had exited, and she and Tobin were listening through the still-open door. "Well, no one can hear us when the door is properly…clo…sed." I had trouble getting out the last word.